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YourArlington staff
Category: Town-related
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David St. George   St. George

U.S. District Court, Boston

A former employee of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra was sentenced in federal court earlier this month for possessing child pornography, U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins has announced.

David St. George, 75, of Arlington, was sentenced Sept. 14 to five years in prison and five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay a $5,100 fee plus restitution payments of $3,000 to each of the victims. He initially pleaded guilty in March. 

“Child pornography is not a victimless crime. It depicts child abuse. Plain and simple,” Rollins said in a statement. “Every single image or video of the material entails unspeakable harm and trauma inflicted upon an innocent child, and those who possess, distribute or view it not only break the law but more importantly revictimize these children with each act that sexualizes them.”

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YourArlington staff
Category: Town Hall
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ARPA rental aid

The town has launched its housing-stability program, providing as much as three months of rental and mortgage assistance to Arlington households that have a low or middle income and have been affected by the economic instability caused by Covid-19.

The assistance program is funded through the town’s allocation from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Additional information about the program is available at www.arlingtonma.gov/ARPA. 

The program is open to Arlington renters and to those who own their home in Arlington.

Households with incomes at or below 100 percent of the area median income, as determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, are eligible to apply.

To determine household income, see the table below. An expedited application process is available for those with incomes at or below 40 percent of the area median income.

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YourArlington staff
Category: Town Hall
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Anna LittenLitten

UPDATED Sept. 16: Anna Litten has been appointed as Arlington’s new library director, assuming the position that Andrea Nicolay vacated in July, when she left to head the Albany, N.Y., library system. Litten is to start her new role on Monday, Sept. 19.

She moved up to the assistant library director position in 2018 after she was librarian of the Fox Branch.

“Ms. Litten brings a wealth of experience and passion to Arlington’s libraries," Town Manager Sandy Pooler said in a town news release Sept. 15. “In her years as the assistant library director, she spearheaded many successful programs and initiatives that have only enriched the Arlington community.”

The library director oversees the operations of the Robbins and Fox Branch libraries, including managing the budget and developing the library's collections and its many services. 

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Johanna Meyer, David White
Category: Environment
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chestnuts 82822 400 91422Water-chestnut gathering at Res. / Photos by Charu TevaliThe water-chestnut clearing at the Arlington Reservoir on  Aug. 28 drew more than 30 volunteers as well as Reservoir Committee members and David Morgan, Arlington’s conservation agent.

The turnout cheered participants."We had a diversity of volunteers, from very young newbies to experienced veterans," one said.  

PaddleBoston, a part of the Charles River Canoe and Kayak Association, provided nine canoes for the effort. In addition, those involved deployed two kayaks and a rowboat, used to monitor and assist during volunteer activities.

Volunteers filled baskets in their canoes with water chestnuts.  Others raked water chestnuts from the shoreline. The collected water chestnuts were then added to the already large pile in the spillway derived from the earlier mechanical harvesting. There, they dewatered, awaiting removal for proper disposal.  

After some 2 1/2 hours of effort, the volunteers had cleared more than 200 baskets of water chestnuts from the lower part of the Arlington Reservoir.

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Bob Sprague
Category: Police
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Diane Welch informs youngsters about an owl she holds.

Arlington police have filed no charges but requested a medical evaluation filed with the state Registry of Motor Vehicles for a driver involved in a collision last week at Town Tavern in which a car hit barriers and damaged plants near outdoor diners.

No diner was hurt in the 6:40 p.m. incident at 201 Mass. Ave. on Thursday, Aug. 18, but one of those involved in the collision had low blood pressure, and the Arlington Fire Department Rescue transported that person for evaluation.

Five officers responded to the scene, where a black Chrysler Sebring operated by a 75-year-old Arlington woman was partly on the sidewalk in front of the Town Tavern restaurant. It had run over the curb, and the right front had crashed into barriers and plants in front of restaurant patrons outside.

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YourArlington staff
Category: Recreation
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Town seal

UPDATED Aug. 22: The renovation of Hurd Field began Monday, Aug. 22.

According to the town of Arlington, the project will require the restriction of access through the field and closing part of the parking lot.

Pedestrian and bicycle access will be through the Arlington Reservoir path/Drake Village connection. Signs will be in place to help direct proper use. Read more here >>

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Aidan Klingsberg
Category: People
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Robbie KhazanRobbie Khazan

Seventeen-year-old Arlington High School graduate Robbie Khazan is working to teach computer-science skills to underprivileged children around the world with his nonprofit company Kiddo Byte. 

He was recently awarded a $36,000 Tikkun Olam Diller scholarship for his efforts with Kiddo Byte.

Khazan started learning the basics of coding when he was in first grade, instructed by his father. When he grew older, after teaching his younger sister a bit about coding, he decided to expand to a wider range of students and offer a free class to family friends.

The class was a success, and Khazan quickly realized he had an opportunity to give back to the community in a way that he was passionate about: He decided to offer free classes to underprivileged children who didn’t have good access to coding classes.

Now, Kiddo Byte has grown immensely, offering free Zoom classes for children around the country and even other parts of the world, including Kenya and Ukraine.

Earlier this summer, Khazan set up a trip for him and one other Kiddo Byte team member to travel to Kenya to teach free classes at the Heritage Baptist Church & Junior School, a small elementary school in Nairobi. Khazan funded the trip by reaching out to companies for sponsorships and applying for grants.

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Bob Sprague
Category: Planning
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Electrify Arlington logo

Arlington wants to be among 10 communities statewide participating in a pilot program that plugs electrical power and bans natural-gas hookups in new homes.

NEWS ANALYSIS: Outlining some complexities

Whether it can depends on a number of factors, including the town's level of affordable housing.

YourArlington asked Kelly Lynema, interim planning director, what is involved, and she has explained.

She agreed that the “Electrify Arlington” campaign is definitely in step with the state's new climate law, just signed by Gov. Baker. The town's sustainability manager, Talia Fox, “has designed the program to help residents and property owners more easily navigate the decisions they may need to make when choosing to electrify their apartments, houses or properties,” she noted. 

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YourArlington staff
Category: Town news
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Sandy PoolerMichael Mason

UPDATED Aug. 19: The Town of Arlington has hired Michael Mason as deputy town manager, effective in November, and he has responded to a request for comment, saying he wants to "contribute to the town of Arlington at a greater capacity."

Mason is currently chief financial officer for the town School Department, also known as Arlington Public Schools.

“I am excited to have Michael join the town manager’s office,” Town Manager Sandy Pooler said in an Aug. 18 news release . “In the time I have worked with him, I have seen his strong financial abilities and his excellent judgment.”

“Mike Mason has been a key member of the School Department’s senior leadership team. He brought innovation and enhanced accountability to our finances,” said Schools Superintendent Liz Homan. “The School Committee, staff and I will miss him and wish him luck in his new position.” 

Mason joined the School Department in January 2019.

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Judith Pfeffer
Category: School news
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Back to school logo
'We are filling positions as quickly as possible.'
           -- Robert Spiegel

UPDATED: Nearly 50 vacancies remain at Arlington Public Schools with only a few days to go before the new school year starts -- a predicament similar to those in communities nationwide. Local needs include three slots in social work, five in nursing and eight working with children age 7 or younger. 

However, all teaching posts are expected to be filled by the time classrooms open Tuesday, Sept. 6, right after Labor Day, APS officials say.

The district website in recent days listed 50 jobs, including 14 teaching posts, but Human Resources Director Robert Spiegel said Tuesday that the true number is 45; some have been filled recently, while others are inadvertent duplicates.

“Almost every district [in the United States] is struggling to fill certain positions, including special education teaching positions and paraprofessional positions,” Spiegel noted in a recent email. “We are filling positions as quickly as possible.

“All classroom teaching positions should be filled by the first day of school.We may [still] have some openings for special education, some specialists and teaching assistants,” Spiegel wrote. “We will continue to work to hire those positions.We may use substitutes or contracted services for some positions that we have not filled.”

  1. New behavioral-health centers to serve Arlington in '23
  2. New $44m DPW celebrates construction milestone
  3. What's behind the historical marker at revamped plaza?
  4. Town rights commission cofounder dies at 66

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YOUR VIEW: Opinions: Roe, Alewife, racism, film, Ukraine, letters, poetry
No. 127: Red Letter Poems 3.0: Performer, audience

No. 127: Red Letter Poems 3.0: Performer, audience

Poetry

UPDATED Sept. 9: Steven Ratiner, Arlington’s poet laureate, sought submissions in February 2020 from Arlington residents to contribute to "a rather unconventional, utterly delightful way to inject poetry into the everyday." It was to remain secret until its debut during April’s National Poetry Month. Then the coronavirus hit. In June 2021, he offers Red Letters 3.0.

PUBLISHED:  I was asked to write an essay for Askold Melnyczuk’s Arrowsmith Journal about what I learned from the first year of the Red Letter Project.  It also became a meditation about the relationship between poet and reader.  If you’d like to take a look, here is a link – arrowsmithpress.com/community-of-voices -- and you’ll also be able to check out the variety of marvelous literary projects that appear under Askold’s Arrowsmith imprint.  Enjoy!

Steven RatinerSteven Ratiner / David Andrews photo 

The Red Letter Poem Project

The Red Letters 3.0: A New Beginning (Perhaps)   

At the outset of the Covid pandemic, when fear was at its highest, the Red Letter Project was intended to remind us of community: that, even isolated in our separate homes, we could still face this challenge together.  As Arlington’s Poet Laureate, I began sending out a poem of comfort each Friday, featuring the fine talents from our town and its neighbors.  Because I enlisted the partnership of seven local arts and community organizations, distribution of the poems spread quickly – and, with subscribers sharing and re-posting the installments, soon we had readers, not only throughout the Commonwealth, but across the country.  And I delighted in the weekly e-mails I’d receive with praise for the poets; as one reader recently commented: “You give me the gift of a quiet, contemplative break—with something to take away and reflect on.” 

Then our circumstance changed dramatically again: following the murder of George Floyd, the massive social and political unrest, and the national economic catastrophe, the distress of the pandemic was magnified.  Red Letter 2.0 announced that I would seek out as diverse a set of voices as I could find – from Massachusetts and beyond – so that their poems might inspire, challenge, deepen the conversation we were, by necessity, engaged in.

Now, with widespread vaccination, an economic rebound, and a shift in the political landscape, I intend to help this forum continue to evolve – Red Letter 3.0.  For the last 15 months, I’ve heard one question again and again: when will we get back our old lives?  It may pain us to admit it, but that is little more than a fantasy.  Our lives have been altered irrevocably – not only our understanding of how thoroughly interdependent we are, both locally and globally, but how fragile and utterly precious is all that we love.  Weren’t you bowled over recently by how good it felt just to hug a friend or family member?  Or to walk unmasked through a grocery, noticing all the faces?

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Letters: Emailing Advocate & Star? Copy it here; it'll be published first

Letters: Emailing Advocate & Star? Copy it here; it'll be published first

Letters to the editor

YourArlington's policy about letters to the editor

UPDATED Aug. 13: YourArlington welcomes opinions of all kinds from local residents, including national issues so long as you can draw a local connection. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in June on Roe v Wade must have echoes here, too. Letters are reviewed for fairness, factualness and taste.

letters

This site welcomes letters about any issue that stirs the public mind. Longer opinion pieces are also welcome.

NOTE: When emailing a letter to The Advocate & Star, consider copying YourArlington at the same time. Your opinions will be published sooner.

Please support your view with facts and arguments that attempt to adhere to reason.

You may write on any subject, so long as you try to make a connection to Arlington. If you can't do that, then your residence in town will be a sufficient connection.

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Alewife Brook sewage campaign: Dredgery, Globe notices

Alewife Brook sewage campaign: Dredgery, Globe notices

Environment

Caption: Worst Offender: Somerville’s SOM01A Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO)Worst Offender: Somerville’s SOM01A combined sewer overflow.

UPDATED Aug. 11: Precinct 13 Town Meeting member Kristin Anderson, who is monitoring the combined sewer overflows into the Alewife Brook, provided this update via her blog, Save the Alewife Brook.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s mention of dredging the Alewife Brook in its response to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s April 2022 draft scope for the new CSO control plan has revived the discussion about the role removing sediment from the Alewife Brook can play in restoration and flood prevention efforts.

Boston Globe takes note in kayak piece >>

The EPA recommends MWRA include dredging the Alewife Brook as part of the alternatives analysis for the new Control Plan.

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